Nihilist
by giratinastories
Summary: All of them had sacrificed their lives to become something greater. But was it worth it? Lost in the new world, Serena and Calem must care for those kids who made the sacrifice.
1. Chapter 1: Subjects

I left my old life behind. I shouldn't have.

* * *

NIHILIST  
CHAPTER I

* * *

"And how are the experiments functioning?"  
"Well. There have been no eliminations through necessity, nor otherwise. They are still not awake."  
"Excellent." Lysandre paused. "You know the plan. Do not release them unless Geosenge fails to fire."  
"Of course." Xerosic bowed. "Subject test results, uploading now."  
Lysandre read the scrolling info on his visor.

**ALL EXPERIMENTS CURRENTLY SECURE**  
Typing tests have shown that their power fields do indeed increase when around a elemental gem or plate. This is unwise, however, as one of my scientists heads exploded upon powering up the Psychic - type.  
Very little tests can be run while they sleep still, but I am confident they will aid us in the creation of the beautiful world.  
Test 1:  
Results range from good to mediocre. I would recommend a way of speeding up their healing times if one existed.  
Test 2:  
No abhorrent mutations other than:  
#3: Enhanced muscle mass beyond projections.  
#9: Incredible psychic power observed. Read earlier report.  
#11: Random spasming movements  
#13: Red eyes, genetic defect possible. A way of repairing this has been found, but we will not be able to until the subject has awoken.  
#17: Number Seventeen has not adapted well to the augmentation so the subjects powers have forced their way onto its physical form. It will require operation to have its wings removed.  
Test 3:  
Most of the subjects have responded to the simulation of the weapon well. No casualties recorded, but some power numbing, and in the case of #13, potential power loss. Editing to prevent this, expecting a breakthrough.  
Test 4:  
All subjects resurrected within three days. Do not expect mental cognitive processes to survive after 1000+ 'deaths.'  
Test 5:  
No successes - the subjects are still in comas.

++Log End++

Lysandre nodded. "Keep me up to date. Oh yes, I think it would be a morale boost to have a subject with wings - we can use the angelic imagery to farther our cause."  
Xerosic cackled. "Only a few more days now, I can feel it..." He calmed himself, and responded, "Seventeen should keep the wings, then?"  
Lysandre gave a huff of approval.  
"Okay, sir." Xerosic swivelled in his chair and observed the subjects. All just kids.  
"Sir, number six is awake." The report came from the scientist studying Six - Xerosic made his way over, brimming with glee.  
Six was still, but her eyes were open, watching Xerosic like a hawk. He sat down, motioning for the scientist to do so.  
"Can you understand me?" The Team Flare Admin asked. Six nodded.  
"I want to go home." she whispered, scared.  
"Your home doesn't exist anymore." Xerosic lied.  
"Huh?" Her eyes widened at the revelation.  
"Yes. Your home was destroyed by our enemies," he lied again. "Your parents died, happy that you survived."  
The scientist next to Xerosic shivered, perhaps a prelude to her power. It also could have possibly been him making sure to give the Liar of the Year award to the Admin.  
She began to cry. "What am I going to do?" she asked, and it took Xerosic a while to realise the question was not rhetoric.  
"You can help us in the new world." Xerosic said, now trying to cheer her up, puppet strings already firmly cast, "with your new powers."  
"What new powers?" Six asked, now genuinely curious, the tears still running.  
"You see that target over there?" Xerosic asked her, pointing at one about twenty feet away.  
"Yeah?"  
"Freeze it."  
"I... I can't do that, don't be silly!"  
"Just try."  
A blast of cold air suddenly expanded, chilling Xerosic and the scientist, but that was merely a fraction of what the target took.  
A spear of ice resolved inside of it, puncturing the very centre, before shards left behind shattered the rim.  
Xerosic clapped slowly, awed. "We have a winner!"  
"Well done, Six!" The scientist applauded.  
"I did that?" she asked, bewildered. "Wow!"  
Xerosic left her - the others had been drilled on what to do with the kids when they woke. Pressing a button on his control pad at his desk, he called Lysandre on his Holo Caster.  
"Lysandre!" he greeted. "Six is awake! All powers nominal."  
Lysandre frowned. "Show me." Xerosic displayed the recorded video of Six smashing the target. "Brilliant." Lysandre breathed.  
"Indeed," Xerosic agreed.

* * *

**Status: 3 days, 4 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds since last login.** The computer screen flashed in the darkness, a skeleton draped over it like a veil.  
The weapon fired. And it had eliminated everything. Team Flare was not safe. The lab had already been reclaimed by nature, the slow growth of vines visible all over the walls.  
Subject chambers were all now opened, each subject awake.  
They were the only ones to survive down in the labs.  
Darkness was split by sparks, the overcharge from the weapon destroying all systems. As it sparked, it illuminated the scared faces of eighteen young children. These were the subjects.  
"Why are we here?" Subject 4 asked plainly, his demeanour calm, despite the cold and the darkness.  
"I can't remember. I think we were asked if we wanted to be big and strong." 8 replied, the sparks gravitating to her. "Should we get out of here?"  
16 shrugged. "It might be safer down here." The darkness did not oppress him.  
9 shook her head. "No, we've got to go. I'm hungry..." she moaned, but not one of them moved.  
6 stood up. "Well, we need to do something. I'm going to look for a way out." The others exchanged glances and followed suit.  
"I've found a door, but it needs a password." 11 called.  
"We don't have time for that!" 12 shouted.  
10 approached the door. Pressing a few random keys, he got no response but a red light. Leaning his head closer, he listened to the clicks each one would make. "3-4-9-2-6..." he thought aloud as he pressed the buttons. A brief flash of green appeared.  
"How'd you do that?!" 11 asked as the door slid open.  
6 answered for him. "The scientist guy said that I had new powers. Maybe we all do!"  
17 approached, his wings clearly visible. "I agree," he said, and a few of the subjects giggled.  
13 had already gone on. "Come on, there are some stairs here!" he called, his crimson eyes glinting as another shower of sparks fell down the stairs.  
The subjects followed the staircase, until they came out into the world. But it was not the world they knew.

* * *

After a solid hour of exploration, the only thing of interest the giant crystal flower, they decided to rest. Six broke the silence. "What are our powers then?"  
Each one of them shrugged, shook their head or frowned. "Dunno."  
Six thought. "One, try doing something." #1 was recognisable as all their clothes had a number emblazoned on them.  
"What should I try?"  
"Try using an element, like Pokémon use."  
"She'll never be able to do that!" 9 dismissed.  
"That's what I said," Six countered, "but look." She focused on a flower. Frost began to coat it, before it solidified further into a layer of ice.  
"Wow!"  
Each subject began to test their powers, until fire shot in ribbons through the air while the grass grew ever faster beneath. Stones buried underground surfaced and clashed with the ground that tried to swallow it up again.  
They were having fun until they heard a voice, coming from the rocks. "... Three damn days, we won't be going much longer at this rate..."  
The kids all hid, each of them away from the voice. "We don't have enough food left for the whole group."  
Another voice came - feminine. "We can't worry - for all we know, there might be more."  
"That's another reason to worry." The male voice was more sharp now. "How long d'you think we'll last?"  
"That's not important. Besides, there's a Pokémon Centre there - it's bound to have some supplies, so just calm down, Calem."  
They were getting closer to the subjects. 12 shifted a little, and Calem turned, eyes narrowed.  
"Serena? Did you hear that?" he whispered as he scanned the area.  
"Yeah," she said, "I heard it." She backed up a step. "Fuck it, we're so close."  
Six held her breath, terrified. She looked into the eyes of another subject, 17. His wings would give them away if he wasn't careful.  
"We could just, double around over these rocks on the route and head around..." Calem suggested.  
Serena looked around. "There's nothing here."  
Calem shook his head. "I'd rather play it safe."  
"Do you think we have time?"  
"No. Your call..."  
"We go right on."  
They walked right past the concealed subjects, and into the Pokémon Centre. The sliding glass doors hissed but would not open, instead streaming smoke.  
"Calem, lets see if we can't get this open." Serena gripped one door while Calem folded his fingers around the other. "One... Two... Three... Pull!" The doors scraped along, just forming a gap wide enough for one of them to step through.  
Six, judging they were out of earshot, whispered to 17, "What if we can't find something to eat?" She knew the others were already hungry.  
"You can't just ask them..." Seventeen replied, worried.  
"I don't think they'll hurt me." Six argued. "You guys can just hide."  
She stood up, boldly striding away from the hiding spot and toward the building Calem and Serena had ducked into moments earlier.  
"Hello?" she called out meekly.  
Calem paused. "Step inside. If you have a weapon, drop it. We are armed." Six wandered inside at Calem's demand. "Fuck, Serena, what are we gonna do with this one?" he muttered to his partner, having expected anything but a young girl.  
Serena regarded Six, her eyes betraying no emotion. "She's just a kid, we can't leave her here..."  
Calem shook his head. "No, don't do the 'good human' routine. That blew up with the world." He looked at Six. "How do we know that she's not gonna lead us into a trap."  
Serena crouched down, face to face with Six. "Are there others in your group?"  
"There... There are eighteen of us." Six whispered, feeling no reason to lie. Serena looked at Calem. Calem shook his head again.  
"You cannot be serious, you've got to be shitting me..."  
"We have to. Are you all just kids?" she asked.  
"Y... yeah..." Six replied.  
"Calem, we have got to get these kids safe." Serena stated.  
"Why?" Calem said flatly.  
"Because they survived. So close to the weapon." Serena pointed out.  
Six's head was swimming. Weapon... Survivors... What had happened to the world?  
"What's your name?"  
"..." She struggled to remember, but only her new name came to the front. "Six."  
"We'll think of a better name." Serena smiled. "Calem, what've we got?" she asked him, turning.  
Calem rolled his eyes. "Just enough for all of us, if you want to adopt these kids."  
"Good." Serena approved.  
Six ran out. "Guys! They'll work with us!" The seventeen remaining rose. "Come on!"  
Calem and Serena left the building, and were startled despite the knowledge that they had this many mouths to feed now. Calem's eyes were immediately drawn to Seventeen.  
"Mew Arceus, that kid's got fricking _wings_..."  
Serena was looking too. "Wait a second."  
"Eighteen elemental types." Calem confirmed.  
"Eighteen of them." Serena finished.

* * *

Calem and Serena both spent the trek back along route ten with the kids in tow, asking them what they remembered.  
"And... You all have elemental powers?" Calem finished, as they stepped onto the gravel path signalling the end of the route.  
"I think so." Six agreed. The children had been skipping or stepping alongside the older ones, ignorant of the silence, the lack of birdsong, the disappearance of cars.  
"We've still got a long way to go, yet..." Calem strode along up a hill near one of the cities. "Still got... Routes 7 and 5 to go back through..."  
Thirteen, Sixteen and Nine were all lagging behind, each of them chatting about something.  
Eighteen was the foremost, right next to Serena despite her blistering pace.  
"Where is everybody else?" Six asked.  
"Dead." Serena replied flatly, leaving Calem to elaborate.  
"The giant crystal flower was a weapon. It was the end of everything. But we have a group who survived like you." He paused for thought, just outside of a cave. "We don't know what or who else survived."  
They stepped into the cave. Serena and Calem both took out torches and switched them on, casting light and pushing the overwhelming darkness back. Eighteen set off a series of small sparks before igniting the floor, a small fire crackling away.  
"Be careful," Calem warned. "We don't know how powerful you are yet." Eighteen hung her head. "Appreciate the light though," he added, switching off his torch as Serena did the same near him. "Keep the way lit."  
Serena and Calem guided the group through the connecting cave, but there seemed to be tension between them - Six picked up an occasional glance, a mouthed word, exchanged between them.  
"How old are you guys?" 10 asked. He had been silent since he hacked the door open back underground.  
"I'm twenty one," Calem began, "and she's twenty years old. Looks younger though."  
Serena sighed, as though the compliment was an insult. "We went out for ten days, will you stop with that bullshit?"  
"Alright." Calem conceded. They could see the exit when a crack sounded from behind them. Twenty people turned around as a pebble clicked down from the ceiling.  
Serena sighed again, but instead of annoyance, she huffed with relief. "It's the little things now." She told the others. "I don't know how the others are gonna react to all these kids, Calem."  
"It was your idea," he reminded her. "Phantom pregnancy?" he suggested, earning him a punch.  
They stepped out onto Route 7, the road stretching out for miles ahead. Calem's head hung. "Arceus damn it, why is this route so long?"  
Serena looked down into her bag. "Holo cast the others, will you?" she said, throwing a curious device to Calem which he snatched from the air with speed.  
He dialled a number and waited before the error avatar appeared: "Your call cannot be taken, as you are out of range." Calem growled at the device. Eight unnoticeably used his electric powers to boost the current, and a flickering figure appeared, much to Calem's surprise.  
"Hey, Nate, we're on the way, and we've got enough stuff to last." he spoke.  
"We're gonna have to get moving soon - Prism Tower is getting more and more creaky by the second." Nate replied, the voice crackling.  
Indeed, on the horizon Prism Tower was dangerously leaning to one side, the supports straining.  
"Mew..." Calem whispered. "We will be there in one, maybe two hours. See ya." Calem pressed the End Call button and Nate disappeared.  
"How did that happen?" Six asked incredulously pointing at Prism Tower. "It was pointy before, wasn't it?"  
"Yeah." Calem said, looking down at her. "But the blast wave snapped one of the supports... we think. Nobody in Lumiouse survived."  
"It's really bad, isn't it?" Six uttered, and Calem looked down at her, surprised.  
"Yes, it is." he replied quietly.  
The lake following route 7 glistened in the sun's light, still shining despite the armageddon on the soil. The grasses rustled slightly in a afternoon wind as the group passed by the Battle Chateau.  
"Calem, where'd you put the stock?" Serena asked him, Six assuming that the 'stock' was the food. Calem pointed at his backpack.  
"Bag." he answered.  
Serena checked her watch. "We'd better hurry."  
"Why?" Calem asked. "Nate just called, he knows we're alright."  
Serena tutted. "You have no sense of time."  
"And a sense of time is real handy in this world, right?" Calem snarled.  
"You two, stop it! We're not arguing, are we?" Six disapproved, motioning to the subjects.  
"Alright," the two both said, grinning.

* * *

The sun was setting by the time they reached Lumiouse City - or at least Lumiouse City's burning husk. The Prism Tower was warped and scorched, the buildings overgrown already. Cars simply sat on the roads where their owners had been driving them, only for that owner to vaporise.  
The sun's rays could not penetrate the sturdy walls it set behind, casting the city into an awkward twilight of sorts. Serena and Calem guided the subjects through the big city, past shops and restaurants, and through markets. The titanic size of the disk-shaped city made it a very long trek, but certainly not as long as the walk down Route 7.  
Everyone was awed still by the scale and scope of the city. The huge buildings and the spectacle of the skyline were majestic and stuck up like great pillars of darkness in the sunset city.  
Calem and Serena finally stopped outside a smaller building in a side alleyway. They knocked on the door in a certain pattern, Six hearing commotion on the inside as a result.  
A ladder came out of the first floor window, folding down for them to climb up. "C'mon." Serena ordered, beginning the climb.  
"Kids, you next." Calem said, ferrying them on with his arm. "Go on." He could already hear raised voices as One climbed through the window. He gave Six a small smile as she passed and began to climb.  
As Eighteen went up, he heard a ominous splintering of metal and turned to see the Prism Tower lose more of its metal plating and lean slightly more.  
He took a deep breath, and began his climb.  
"-can't just bring this many in!"  
"They need a place to stay." Serena argued against another girl.  
"Serena, there are eighteen fucking kids, one of which has - holy fuck, are those _wings_?!" she questioned.  
"Rosa, they're special. Team Flare... They were meant to be super weapons." Serena told Rosa.  
"We can't feed all these." Rosa stated. "Maybe if we had the keys to the city, but you know where those are. We'd be able to get all the stuff we needed, but the lockdown closed all the shops."  
Six remembered how the gate they had traveled through to get to the city had a huge iron doorway, which looked like it had been wedged open by something, but only just wide enough for two to fit through, side by side.  
"Nate, come with me." Calem motioned. "We can go and find the keys."  
Nate stepped toward the window. "There is no way in hell..." he said, pointing at the Prism Tower, "I am going up that."

* * *

NIHILIST  
CHAPTER I

Giratinastories does not own Pokémon. If he did, well, that'd be great. But anyway, that's the disclaimer.  
Review and PM please! 


	2. Chapter 2: Prism

The world has changed, for better or worse.

* * *

NIHILIST  
CHAPTER 2

* * *

"If we wait around any longer, the tower will fall, and with it any hope of recovering those keys. We will survive for a lot longer if we can just get them." As if to contradict Calem, the Prism Tower creaked loudly, a large chunk of the top spire falling from its precarious position and into the square.  
"You can go up." Nate dismissed, waving his hand. "If we wait for it to collapse, we can sift through the wreckage for it."  
"We won't find it in a pile of steel and concrete." Calem shot back. "I'll go up on my own if I have to."  
Serena was torn. "What Nate is saying makes more sense, but Calem has a point. And the sooner, the better."  
The subjects looked on, wondering who the winner of the argument would be. Calem was scowling.  
"We won't have to worry about supplies anymore if we do this. It'll make our lives a lot easier." he complained to the others. "None of you have to go up."  
"You want to do that, sure. But I'm not going to die falling a thousand feet with a splat." Nate shrugged.  
"Fine," Calem said. "But when I come back, you're going to feel like a wank-stain."  
"Hey!" Rosa snapped. "Young ones are listening!"  
Calem was already heaving himself over the windowsill. "Oh yeah," he said, pausing to take off his backpack and throw it into the room. "All the stuff we got today."  
"See ya." Nate grinned.  
"Aw, fuck you." Calem snorted.  
"Calem, I'm warning you..." Rosa berated.  
"It's not like they haven't heard it before." Calem climbed over the railings and onto the ladder. He looked into the room. "Not one of you is to follow me. Is that understood?"  
The eighteen little faces nodded solemnly.  
Calem climbed down the ladder and headed through the streets to the square. Of course, one of the kids had their fingers crossed when he told them not to follow.  
As he made it to the centre of Lumiouse, he saw some of the wreckage of the spire. Peering up, he saw the control room had snapped to a 45 degree angle - that would not be the best place to have to look for the keys, but by instinct he knew they had to be at the top.  
"Arceus damnit."  
He made his way into the tower, the huge archway into it casting strange, angular shadows around the square. The inside used to be filled with screens, bright lights, and mechanisms, but now it was all dark. Using his torch to spot the elevator, he pressed the button, hoping against hope it would still open. When it didn't, he groaned, and grabbed the doors to prise them open. Heaving with all his strength, he managed to pull them open. The elevator was at the bottom, and he used his height to undo the ceiling hatch and pull himself on top. The elevator creaked and groaned, echoed by the tower, and Calem considered how stupid this idea was.  
The prospect of continued survival, especially for the kids, drove him on, however. He climbed up the elevator shafts wiring and paneling, each movement setting off a loud, metallic bang. He finally made his way to the second floor.  
"Fuck." He had forgotten which elevator actually took you up, and which were dummies. "Damn gym puzzles."  
He pried all the doors open, panting by the third, his hands burning. "Arceus..." he muttered, shaking his arms. Looking into the shafts, he saw the elevators had collapsed through the floor, creating a pit that he would fall to his death in if he wasn't careful. He looked up each shaft and saw the third one went straight on up.  
Taking a deep breath, and making a run up, he leapt at the opposite wall, grabbing onto an exposed rebar.  
He slammed into the wall a bit too hard, and shook the rebar loose. Panic set in, and he lost his grip and slowly fell backwards.

* * *

He opened his eyes. He wasn't dead, but was lying on something incredibly cold. He got back onto his feet, and saw Six, smiling.  
Mixed emotions rose inside of him. Rage, relief, friendliness, anger and worry all vied for supremacy but it was exasperation that came out on top.  
"Fucking hell, I thought I told you to stay back there! Why did you come up here?"  
"But... I just saved your life!" Six cried, shocked by his reaction. Calem bit his lip slightly, shook his head and gave her a hug.  
"Look, I worry. Okay? I just don't want you to get hurt, and now I'll have to keep an eye on you."  
"Why?" She sniffed. "Why don't you just send me back down?"  
"Because you did just save my life, you might have to again," he grinned. "Come on."  
He looked at the ice she had created over the chasm to keep him from falling. "How tough is this?"  
"I don't know." she replied. "Let me freeze it again." The ice became more solid, as it had already started to melt.  
Calem stepped onto it, the thick ice crunching but not cracking underfoot. He looked up, and knew he wasn't going to make it to the next doorway in one jump. "Six, I need another platform."  
"Okay." Six said, freezing another area above him. It was big enough to stand on, but not so big as to not be able to climb onto it.  
"Just keep that frozen, okay?" Calem said, pulling himself onto the new slab before leaping into the doorway. "Now grab my hand," he commanded, kneeling to Six's reach. Six reached up and the ice gave beneath her, Calem quickly snatching her wrist before she fell. She screamed, looking into the abyss as the other, newer platform broke, the shards of ice freezing against Calem's hand as he struggled to pull Six up. She swung in the void, Calem the only thing stopping her from falling to her death.  
"C'MON, YOU... SON OF A... BITCH!" Calem shouted, heaving her up into the next level. "Don't repeat that." He told her, exhausted. They both scrambled away from the doorway, and the pit.  
"Thanks, Calem." Six gratefully panted. They managed to regain their footing and stood up.  
"Two more elevators to go." Calem sighed. "Why does it have to be a gym?"  
He opened all the doors again (with help from Six) and checked the elevator shafts. Two of them were full, the elevators in place, but the first was empty. Calem saw that the lift was above them, connecting to the third floor. "That lift is blocking the way up." he told Six. "Can you think of a way to remove it?"  
As if in answer, the tower rumbled, the lift shaking loose and breaking through the structure, caught on the bars of the tower.  
"Thanks." Six said, as if to the tower. Calem nodded his appreciation too.  
"If we aren't fast, we'll be next," he reminded her. Sizing up the distance between the elevator cord and himself, he jumped for it, snatching it and pulling himself up and into the third floor doorway. He put his arm down for Six to grab and pulled her onto the ledge. The tower shook, the cord snapping and sending the elevator down into the square, where they could hear the loud bang of the impact.  
"Whoa." Six breathed.  
Calem smiled. "Almost there."  
They climbed through another shaft before reaching the gym arena. Calem stepped over Clemont's burnt out corpse, still lying on the floor of the arena. Six carefully went around it.  
"I knew him." Calem spoke, surprising Six. "He wasn't as bad as I was expecting him to be, what with leading Lumiouse City, and so young too." There was a ladder into the control room at the top, and Calem could feel the night air as he climbed, due to the split in the tower that caused the control room to lull.  
Six followed him up, seeing him frozen in fear. The control room had tilted so much that the glass was now the floor, forcing you to look down over two hundred feet into the square. He carefully stepped onto the first glass panel.  
"Six, stay there."  
He looked at all the rubbish coating the glass, as the tilt had caused all of the objects on the desk to fall onto the windows. He spotted a key poking out of the midst of the junk, and dared to believe that was it.  
Pulling it from the rubble, he saw each key was marked with a store name. He smirked and was about to pocket it when he noticed the Klefki the keys were attached to tightened around his hand.  
"Oh fuck."  
The bastard creature whipped into life, using its speed to slam him against the glass of the floor, which began to crack. "SIX!" Calem screamed. "FUCKING FREEZE IT!" He grasped at it with his other hand and tried to pull it apart, feeling it getting colder. The Klefki finally was torn in two, the keys scattering.  
Calem wasted no time in grabbing them - the control room was about to break off from the tower. He had them all. Making a run for Six, he felt the control room snap off, and leaped for her.  
She was safe, standing on a small piece of plating that was not torn off - but would he be?  
He soared through the air as though in slow motion, feeling rather than seeing the city beneath. 'I'm not going to die falling a thousand feet with a splat.' Nate's words came back as he narrowly missed the tower.

* * *

Six grabbed him.  
He tried to get a better hold, but cut his hand open on a sharp metal plate.  
He handed the keys to her, knowing that he was going to pull her over the edge with his weight, he made his decision and let go.  
Six screamed as he fell, but he reached out and managed to grab some of the intricate detailing on the higher levels. He climbed up to where she was, and gave her a massive hug, holding her close to him in relief and gratitude.  
The tower finally began to collapse, shaking itself to pieces as tons of metal and steel collapsed from it's frame.  
Calem leapt over the edge, still holding Six. They both plummeted through the air. Calem turned so he would hit the floor, hopefully allowing Six to survive. He had always wanted to be a parent.  
It was now he thought he'd be a damn good one.  
Then he hit something and it was the end.  
Six opened her eyes, and looked down at him.  
They had landed on something soft, something that wasn't stone or concrete.  
They had landed onto nothing. In fact, they were still suspended in midair, their stop so sudden they thought that they had hit something.  
Serena and most of the subjects were there, 9, 13 and 16 using their psychic, incorporeal and reversing powers to catch them. "Nicely done." Serena applauded.  
She went over to Six, who gave her the keys. "Is Calem going to be okay?" she asked Serena.  
"Yeah," Serena reassured, "the fall was just a shock. He's fainted."  
She lifted him up in her arms, grunting at his weight. "C'mon kids, lets go back. Well done, you." she praised Six.  
"What for?"  
"Keeping him alive. Come on, now."

* * *

NIHILIST  
CHAPTER 2

* * *

And people say chapters aren't written in days...  
Guest (reviewer), get an account and I'll be more than happy to tell you which types the subjects are! Thanks so much for reviewing!  
If you enjoyed it, review or pm. 


	3. Chapter 3: Goodbyes

Exodus

* * *

NIHILIST  
CHAPTER 3

* * *

Calem awoke, sitting up as soon as he realised he could move again. "Where's Six?" he asked Serena, who was sitting by his bedside. "Is she alright?"  
"She's fine. The others used their powers to catch you." Serena said warmly. "Y'know, I didn't think you liked kids this much. Rosa and Nate... I can't convince them to let the kids stay." she sighed, looking down at her shoes in defeat.  
"So, what about the kids? We're not gonna just tell 'em to fuck off, are we?" Calem was angry at the very idea that Nate and Rosa wouldn't let the next generation have a roof over their heads.  
"No. Me and you - if you're up to it - can find them somewhere else to live." Serena told Calem her plan. "We take half the keys, grab all the gear from those shops and scarper by sunrise."  
"That fucking Klefki..." Calem muttered.  
"A surviving Klefki?!" Serena asked. "That means Pokémon have survived, or at least some of them!"  
Calem's eyes widened. "Do you think there's a chance..."  
"Of course there's a chance! Not in our lifetime, but the world can go back to how it was!" Serena cheered.  
Calem lay back down, his eyes closed, glad that everyone was going to be O.K for now.  
"I'm proud of you," Serena applauded him.  
"Huh?"  
"Six tells me you were going to try to sacrifice yourself for her. And you kept her safe."  
"That was just fatherly instinct."  
"Calem, I'm trying to compliment you here!" Serena laughed.  
Calem saw the cut in his hand had a bandage wound around it. "Medical supplies?"  
"From the hospital," Serena answered. "I didn't want to risk you getting any infections."  
"Can you get Six up here?" Calem asked her, wanting to make sure she was fine.  
"She's eating with the others." Serena told him. "That restaurant food is great."  
"None for me then?" Calem complained, still smiling.  
"I'll bring you some," Serena assured him. She stood up from the chair by the bedside, and giving one last nod to Calem, left.  
Calem shut his eyes and began to dream.

* * *

Calem wasn't sure what he dreamed about or for how long. He did know, when he woke up, he was starving.  
Thank Arceus that Serena had stayed true to her word and had left him a sandwich on the bedside table. He highly doubted that the others had eaten such simple fare, but wasn't about to question it, instead going straight for it and gobbling it down.  
Calem lay back for a moment when he was done, then put his black zipped shirt on over himself - something he had bought from the boutique in the city he was currently occupying before the weapon fired. He looked for the others, and saw them all in the other room by the window, the glass no longer proudly displaying the figure of Prism Tower.  
They were all asleep, Nate's glowing watch showing that the time was around midnight - Calem couldn't be bothered to work out the specifics.  
"Calem." It was Six.  
"Yeah?" Calem replied quietly, smiling.  
"Good night."  
"Good night, Six."  
He went back to the bed, and allowed himself to rest again, having a good sleep for the first time in the three days it had been.  
He was woken by Serena in the small hours of the morning. "I've got an itinerary which we'll have to stick to if we want to make it anywhere significant by afternoon."  
"Right, what are we doing?" he asked, rubbing his rested eyes.  
"We need to get bags for the kids to keep some of our supplies in, we need food, water, shelter, possibly weaponry." Serena responded as she studied the list. "And transport, if you don't want to always be walking."  
"Are you suggesting I nick a car?" Calem disapproved.  
"How can you nick it if it doesn't belong to anyone? Anyone alive, anyway." Serena was ever the realist. "That's about it."  
Calem looked at the doorway in thought. "So you've told Rosa and Nate?"  
"Not yet..." Serena said sheepishly.  
"We have to! We can't just take half the stuff in the city and be like 'Alright then, see you later!' You tell them now!"  
"Fine." Serena scowled. "They'll try to stop us."  
"You're probably right. Are you sure that-"  
"They said it was either us or the kids." Serena cut him off, knowing what he was going to say.  
"Okay. Go tell them."  
Serena left in a huff and returned... actually pretty much the same. "Didn't even try to stop us. They say we can take the stuff from the south half."  
"Well, that's easy enough then." Calem stood up. "I'll wake up the kids."  
"No, let them sleep." Serena disagreed. "They'll all be moody otherwise."  
"How do we know that Nate or Rosa won't sacrifice them to Yveltal or something?" Calem joked.  
"Shut it," Serena deadpanned, but smirked.  
They silently navigated their way to the window and climbed on through it, sliding down the ladder. "Friction burn." Calem said to himself, shaking his hands.  
"Hope you haven't got one anywhere else." Serena said, leading Calem to snort.  
"I'll need a Burn Heal for that." he snarled right back. The building they were staying in was in North Lumiouse, so they followed the circumference of the city until they reached South Lumiouse. Serena pulled out the keys and they began to loot the stores.  
"We're not gonna be able to carry all this crap by ourselves." They had only rummaged through two shops and already had eleven black bin liners full of goods.  
Serena pointed to a large garbage can. "We'll empty that one out and put it all in there."  
"Resourceful." Calem remarked. He went over to it and struggled to flip it. "Serena? A hand?" Serena took a mannequin's hand from inside a shop and threw it at his head. "Very fucking funny." Calem snapped, the syllables dripping with sarcasm. (A.N: Sorry, Calem...)  
Serena grasped the bottom of the bin too, one of the large metal kind, and tried to help Calem. "Okay..." she said. "Three, two, one, LIFT!" They managed to flip it over and remove half the trash very quickly. The rest was pulled, or kicked if it looked too nasty, out. They both flipped it back onto its wheels with a lot less effort. Throwing the collected items into it, they were able to carry the stuff with them a lot faster.  
"PR studio?" Serena asked.  
"Meh, it won't have much we can use... Oh fuck!" Calem shouted, as though realising something. "The United Region's Army barracks is in North Kalos! So is the Kalos Defence Force's recruitment centre!"  
"So?"  
"So, we won't be getting any weapons!" Calem snapped.  
"We can ask Nate -"  
"There is no way in hell they'll let us be armed and not them." Calem stopped her.  
"We can cross that bridge when we come to it." Serena told him. "We don't need weapons now, anyway." Calem grunted, but secretly wondered how much longer it would be before they came across something that would need a weapon to put it down. "Can you get the kids bags from the store, the uh..." Serena trailed away.  
"Boutique?" Calem asked.  
"Yeah. That's such a dumb word." Serena thought aloud.  
Calem went in and collected eighteen, making sure they were all slightly different so that there would be no arguing over whose was whose. He also stuffed some of the clothes from the store as changes for him, Serena and the eighteen.  
"Got it," he shouted across the street, but Serena did not reply, and was nowhere to be seen. "Serena?"  
He was grabbed from behind by someone, their arm around his throat. Grabbing their wrist and bending double, he flipped the attacker over his head, feeling a considerable weight pass over him as his attacker fell past. He held the target's wrist down to his back before flipping open a pocket knife taken from his back pocket.  
"No - wait -" the person said, and Calem recognised the voice.  
"AZ?" he asked, flipping the old king over. It was indeed AZ, as tall as a giant, almost eight feet. He was lucky to have escaped his grip. "What do you want?" Calem growled down at him.  
"I thought you were someone else, please don't hurt me!" AZ reached up, trying to block Calem.  
"What would you have done if I were someone else?" Calem asked him, his grip on the blade not faltering. He saw Serena from the corner of his eye, glad she was alright.  
"I'm on my own, I've got to move for food and supplies and-"  
"So you would have killed me?" Calem asked, raising the blade. He knew it would be ineffectual, but hoped that it would do something.  
"No, no no no! I wouldn't have killed you, I swear!" AZ's gravelly voice came.  
"Get up, and leave the city." Calem ordered. "Take this, and use it well 'cause its all I'm gonna give you." Calem handed him a bag of mismatched stuff, much to Serena's chagrin.  
"Thank - thank you..." AZ said, heaving the bag over one shoulder. Calem saw the eternal Floette by AZ, but couldn't comment on it as AZ had already run off. The moment he was out of sight, predictably...  
"What the FUCK? Calem, we have eighteen people to feed for the rest of their lives! And you just give that to a stranger? Are you INSANE?" Serena bellowed, her body animated with rage.  
Calem shrugged. "If we can help another survivor we should. And he wasn't a stranger, i know him. He's eternal, so killing him wouldn't matter anyway." he responded calmly.  
"He's an eternal?" Serena asked. Eternals were extremely rare - a being which if killed, would simply come back again. No human had ever become an eternal previous to AZ, but some Pokémon species such as the Legendary Pokémon were comprised entirely of Eternals.  
"Not by choice." Calem replied, "or by want. Let's get back to it."  
And they resumed their looting.

* * *

Calem climbed the ladder first, Serena close behind. They woke up the kids methodically, from 1 to 18, before they woke up Nate and Rosa. "We want the key to the URA barracks." Serena told them.  
"Take it. Leave it open, but by Arceus do not come back here afterwards or I will gut you alive." Nate laid down his ultimatum. "But other than that... have a good life."  
Serena and Calem looked at them both, and both parties considered what they were doing was the wrong thing. "You too. Take care." Calem broke the silence. "And don't come looking for us or else I'll blast your damn head off your neck."  
Nate grinned. "We have an agreement."  
Calem mirrored him. "Let's meet again when this is over. Maybe we can be friends."  
"I'd like that." Nate motioned to the window. "You going or not?"  
"You kids okay?" Calem asked.  
All of them nodded at him.  
"Adios."

* * *

They left at the route 5 gate. Despite it being where they had come from, Serena and Calem had come to an agreement to backtrack as they knew that there would be no nasty survivors along that path.  
Serena shoved along the bin with three subjects sitting on it - (Push faster! They squealed while Serena muttered obscenities about _'unfair advantage'_ and _'rock paper scissors balancing issues._') Calem was at the rear of the crowd and was counting them every five minutes, worried sick that he might lose one. Six was walking beside him, and they simply walked together in friendly silence.  
Calem was beginning to enjoy life again - with the children around, he was sure that there was never going to be a dull moment from now on.

* * *

NIHILIST  
CHAPTER 3

* * *

HOW QUICKLY AM I PUMPING THESE OUT AGAIN? Wow, that's fast. But I may hit a block soon. I want to thank everybody who's read this piece of crap, even past the awful jokes: I did a hand joke, what is wrong with me.  
Anyway, review if you liked it. Should I name the subjects or not? DON'T REVIEW WITH A SUBJECT NAME: PM ME. Incorporating a subject name into a review is great, as long as its a review and not a sentence with a name on. Thanks again,

Giratinastories 


End file.
